In Acts 3:19 Peter instructs the people gathered in the portico of Solomon to “repent and return.” The reason is two-fold; one part being contingent upon the other. First will come the wiping away of our sins. When we repent and return to God the blood of Jesus Christ is applied to us as detergent designed to wipe away all the stains of our sins and make us white as snow.

Second, and contingent upon the first, will come times of refreshing. These times come to us from the presence of the Lord. We can only be in the presence of the Lord if we are spotless from sin. We can only be spotless from sin if we repent and return to God.

When I read this I couldn’t help but wonder, “what do the ‘times of refreshing’ encompass?” I’ve been listening to a reading from John MacArthur about the Vanishing Conscious, and it occurred to me that a seared conscious is in desperate need of refreshing, and indeed, when we come into the presence of the Lord our conscious is refreshed: it gains a clarity of thought, and rightness in judgment, and a truthfulness in its guidance of our souls.

When I come into presence of the Lord through repentance, I’m overjoyed to say, my conscious is refreshed. It tells me the truth, frees from unwarranted guilt, rebukes me when appropriate and shows me the right path. But, oh, when I am not in the presence of the Lord my conscious begins to accuse me falsely, weighing me down with guilt that is not mine. It begins to fail me as a guide and lets my flesh win over my spirit, taking me deeper into sin.

Oh, how I need Jesus. He is the only one who can refresh me and make all my members work as God designed them to work. Oh, how I need Jesus, for only in his presence do I see clearly, think rightly and act purely. Oh, how I need to repent and return to God so that I might live always in the presence of the Lord and thus enjoy refreshing times.

God, may it be so for me and for all who read this, Amen.